A local woman carries her kid, passing by the houses damaged in a 6.6-magnitude earthquake in Damxung County, Tibet on Monday, October 6, 2008. [Photo: Xinhua]

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Women, children and the elderly comprised most of the 10 victims of Monday's earthquake in Tibet, it emerged as rescuers re-established links to the epicenter on Tuesday.

Most of the men were away mowing and storing forage grass for the winter, said Tsering Samdrup, a resident of Yangyi, the worst hit village, where nine people died, 18 were injured and 171 homes were destroyed.

"I can't believe it," cried Nyima, a Tibetan herder who lost her 2-year-old daughter. "Now our family of nine is reduced to eight."

Tenzin Chodrak said he was putting extra hay into the sheepfold when his home collapsed. "My brother's son died and my mother was injured," he said.

Lamas have been called in to perform rituals for the dead before sky burials, a traditional funeral practice in Tibet.

The 10th victim was from a high school in Nagarze County, Shannan Prefecture, regional vice chairman Gong Puguang said at a press conference.

Gong said the school was evacuating its students during the quake when a stampede occurred. One teenager died and 15 were injured.

Tents, food and water are being trucked into villages hit by the 6.6-magnitude quake after rescuers reopened a main road to the epicenter at Damxung, an outer county of the regional capital Lhasa.

"We have finished putting up 280 tents to accommodate all 171 families whose houses collapsed in Yangyi Village," said Yang Lin, Damxung vice head.

Almost every home in Gedar Town, which stands 4,560 meters above sea level, suffered cracks and ensuring the town's 4,000 people kept warm was a priority, said an official with the county's Civil Affairs Bureau.

Another 20 residential buildings were destroyed in neighboring Nyemo County but no casualties were reported.

Supplies, including five tons of rice, five tons of flour as well as clothes, drinking water and edible oil, were distributed to the survivors.

Shortly after the road to Yangyi Village was restored around midnight, injured villagers were taken to two hospitals in downtown Lhasa.

"Most of them suffered traumas or bone fractures," said Tashi Namgyal, president of the People's Hospital, the main hospital in Lhasa where seven injured villagers were being treated.

The other 12 injured people were admitted to the General Hospital of Tibet's Area Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Hao Peng, vice chairman of Tibet's regional government, visited the injured at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. Doctors described their conditions as stable.

A team of 17 doctors with three ambulances arrived at the epicenter to provide emergency medical care as well as disease control and prevention.

The regional earthquake monitoring network said it had observed 1,211 aftershocks as of 10 p.m. on Tuesday, one of the above 6 on the Richter scale. The quake occurred around 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

PLA troops stationed in Lhasa were among the first to arrive after the quake. They helped people out of the ruins, pulled out bodies and visited every family to ascertain the number missing.

At least 700 rescuers are at the site, with PLA soldiers putting up more tents hoping to accommodate all villagers by dusk. Health workers are examining villagers and sanitizing the area to prevent epidemics.

Soldiers and rescue dogs are searching the rubble for those who may be trapped.

The Tibet Division of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) has sent a detachment of 300 to Damxung County to set up tents to ensure that all of the homeless villagers are sheltered as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the PAPF Headquarters have ordered its units in Tibet to closely monitor the situation in the region and to spare no efforts to rescue affected people.

The Sichuan-Tibet highway reopened Tuesday after three days of closure due to falling rocks.

"The highway was not damaged by the earthquake, but we are ready for any potential accidents," said Xiang Mingqing, an officer with the People's Armed Police exercising traffic control.